Bleeding Pages
by Kchan Silverfox
Summary: This is Rock's journal beginning with Metropolis's attack on his town, through his six years with Duke Red, and ending near the end of the movie. R&R! CHAPTER 3 IS FINALLY UP!!!!
1. My Town, My Smoke and Rubble

Bleeding Pages

By K**chan

Disclaimer: I do not own Metropolis or any of its characters. They all belong to the man indirectly (or directly, however you see it) responsible for the giant, crowded anime conventions popping up all over the place and the fact that you can't see what color my walls are because of my collection of anime posters, Osamu Tezuka. Please, please, please do not sue poor little (err… more like freakishly tall) me, I only have my anime and … umm… never mind, I don't have anything else!

Author's Note: My friend Oo-Trissi-oO told me a few days ago that there are currently only TWO Metropolis fan fics on all of fanfiction.net!!! I was shocked. Driven by my love for Rock and his sadistic blue eyes, I've decided to fix this little fact. Warning: What you are about to read is very dark. If you are looking for something silly or light-hearted, you are in the wrong place! Anyway, this is Rock's journal from the time he was ten till he was sixteen. (I think that's how old he was in the movie.) It begins where Rock's country is attacked by Metropolis and ends near the end of Metropolis the movie. I've only seen the movie, since I haven't been able to find the manga anywhere (at least at a reasonable price, i.e., under $50). If anything in this story contradicts anything in the manga, please let me know in a review.

Now on with the journal!

February 2nd, 2044

            My old journal has been reduced to ashes along with the rest of my town; the rest of my country. I'm writing on an old, crumpled paper bag, sitting in the middle of the smoldering ruins of my home. My name is Rock A- Oh, screw my last name, it doesn't matter anymore! My whole family is dead, most of them burned alive by the robotic army of Metropolis. Metropolis… how I hate that name… I hate them; I hate their people, their stupid leaders, and most of all, their robots!!! Oh god… now I'm ranting! When those idiots come to check this town for survivors, all they're going to find is one insane 10-year-old, ranting about robots and clutching a torn piece of paper and a pen. 

                                                                                                -Rock

February 4th, 2044

            It's so quiet now, except for the light pitter-patter of rain on the tin roof of my makeshift shelter and the occasional hum of a passing airplane. The sirens of ambulances and fire trucks no longer scream in the distance, they gave up long before my last entry. Over the last couple of days, (It's evening now.) I've built a lean-to of sorts for myself out of the wreckage of my home. The roof (which was once the stove top in my kitchen) leaks constantly and the walls have cracks in them between the boards. It's been raining for two days now, and I'm cold, wet, and miserable. I've managed to recover some of my family's possessions; my little sister's favorite doll, my mother's gold necklace, and, most importantly, my father's gun, which is still loaded. If any of those freaking Metropolis idiots come anywhere near me, I'll blow their ugly heads off.

                                                                                                -Rock

February 10th, 2044

            I've actually seen the people of Metropolis. I'd been wondering for a long time whether or not they were ALL robots. They're light skinned men (mostly, I've seen one or two women), wearing sweaters with suspenders and black pants. On their feet are high boots and they have black arm bands. They've started looking for survivors from this town. A bit late, I think. It's been eight days since their last bombing. They haven't found me yet, and I'm not going to let them. Not until I'm ready. And if they try to take me, I'll shoot them dead.

                                                                                                -Rock

February 11th, 2044

            I woke up this morning to see one of the Metropolis men standing over me, a gun in his right hand and the other one pointing at me. "Hey, look, there's a little boy over here," he called to one of his comrades. They grabbed me and took me away before I could even get my finger on the trigger. They confiscated my father's gun and took me to a drafty shelter where I now sit in the corner writing this. It's incredibly crowded in here; there must be at least 100 other people beside myself in this shelter. The shelter is a beige tent with a roof suspended by a line of poles going down the middle. Kerosene lamps hanging in the corners and from the supporting poles dimly light it. On the opposite side of the tent from me, there are tables with giant pots of noodles and jugs full of water. I don't trust them; I bet they're poisoned.

                                                                                                -Rock

February 13th, 2044

            I've met some other orphans about my age in the shelter. We've spent the last few days trying to figure out how to escape and get back at the people of Metropolis. My friend Yasuo, who was my neighbor before our town was destroyed, has figured out how to turn off some of the robots. He says there's a button on their right shoulders that turns them off. As of yet, I haven't been able to get close enough to one of the robots that patrol the entrance of the shelter to verify this for myself. One of the other orphans, a pink haired girl named Eden, has figured out how to make slingshots out of strips torn from the tablecloths on the food tables and splinters of wood from the support posts on the tent. If the adults won't do anything, we will!

                                                                                                -Rock

February 15th, 2044

            Eden announced to the other orphans today that she's heard rumors that one of the head leaders of Metropolis is coming tomorrow to speak with the survivors. This is the perfect opportunity for us to show those Metropolitans that we aren't going down with out a fight! The other orphans and I spent the day digging rocks out of the dirt floor of the shelter and making slingshots. The adults who've caught us have told us that slingshots won't do anything but enrage the Metropolitans, but it's the only option we have!

                                                                                                -Rock

To be continued…

K**chan: This is proving to be much more challenging than I thought! I know, I know, Rock sounds a bit too mature for a 10-year-old, but hey, I tried my best! I'll get the next chapter up ASAP, but school starts tomorrow, so I'll have less time to write. L Please review!!! ^_^


	2. Big Noses and Blonde Braids

Bleeding Pages

By K**chan

Part 2: Big Noses and Blonde Braids

Disclaimer: I do not own Metropolis or any of it's further named characters. However, if you would like to donate some of it to a good cause…

K**chan: I've decided to put a little ray of sunshine in this dark tale. Hope you enjoy it!

Now, on with Rock's Journal…

February 16th, 2044

            Duke Red, one of the leaders of Metropolis came to speak to us today. He blabbed on and on and on about how we should be proud to be "glorious" Metropolitans. Blah, blah, blah… Of course, he thought we were all paying rapt attention. He was very wrong. It turns out, this "leader" has the biggest nose on the face of the Earth!!! I mean, I've seen lots of big noses before, but this was ridiculous! I mean, it looked like a beak!  So while he was speaking, all of us kids just stared at his giant honker, looking like we were paying attention. Finally, Yasuo elbowed me to remind me of our plan with the slingshots. I aimed carefully and shot a stone straight at his sniffer! He yelled and his nose turned bright red! The whole crowd, even the adults, burst out laughing. 

The other children and I were carried off by Duke Red's men and placed in a truck, where we now are. Two of the younger kids, Masami and Kathryn are singing "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" over and over again and driving me, as well as the truck driver, crazy!

                                                                                                            -Rock

February 16th, 2044 (nighttime)

            This evening, the truck rumbled into my old town. The truck driver let the other orphans and me out and told us to go find whatever belongings we wanted out of the ruins of our old homes. He suggested we say good-bye to our old town because this would be our last time there before it was bulldozed and rebuilt. I was sure I wouldn't find anything in the rubble of my home, as I'd already sifted through it many times. However, I did find some surviving pages of my old journal. I've pasted them here:

_October 30th, 2043_

_            I can't wait for Halloween and all the yummy candy! My sister (Kari) is being a faerie princess and I'm being an elfin warrior. My mother is baking pumpkin-shaped cookies and my father is arranging the music for the Halloween party at his office. I'm so excited!_

_October 31st, 2043_

_            I got 286 pieces of candy, 40 more than Yasuo! Hahaha! I am king of Halloween candy! My sister's faerie wings kept knocking over my neighbor's Halloween decorations. It was funny until they knocked over a Jack-o-Lantern and almost caught on fire._

The rest of that page was burned. But I also found one other:

_December 20th, 2043_

_            It snowed today and we had a snow day off from school! Kari, Yasuo and I made a snowman. Kari kept arguing that it was a snow woman. Eventually, Yasuo got annoyed with this and "changed the position of the carrot". (If you did not get that, I think you must be incredibly dense.) Kari was disgusted and ran off to play with some of her girl pals. _

_December 21st, 2043_

_            The light snow from yesterday has become a full-blown blizzard! We're snowed in and incredibly bored. The TV and phone lines are down, so we can't use either of those. I've already beaten Kari at Monopoly 40 million times so we can't do that._

That was the last page that I found. Life was so much happier then. I wish I could go back in time. The other kids and I are back in the truck in truck again heading to God-knows-where.

                                                                                                            -Rock

February 17th, 2044

            This morning, the other orphans and I woke up in a elaborate orphanage with toys everywhere. We'd been in the truck all night, and we'd all dropped off to sleep at some time. While the younger kids played with the toy trucks, dolls and action figures, Eden (if you don't remember, she's the girl who came up with the slingshots), Yasuo, and I sat silently in the corner and tried to look as miserable as possible. Starting around noon, adults began to parade through. Some just looked others just took one of two of the orphaned kids home. Then, at around 6:00 pm, a huge man with a beard, sideburns, and a mustache wearing overalls and a plaid shirt took Yasuo. Yasuo looked terrified of the man who grabbed him roughly and led him in to the office to sign some papers. Eden and I haven't seen him since.

                                                                                                            -Rock

February 18th, 2044

            It's obvious to me now that Yasuo isn't coming back. Eden and I asked one of the "babysitters" (who carry guns) what happened to us. The gun-carrying woman told us that the rough man from yesterday had adopted him. We're very worried about him. Eden and I are wondering which of us will be adopted next. We'd hate to be separated; we've become the best of friends over the last few days. 

-Rock

February 22nd, 2044

            The most awful thing since my family's murder has happened! Duke Red, the man with the giant honker, has adopted me! I hate him so much! Why God, why? Eden and I were sitting on the floor of the orphanage, doing a puzzle featuring golden unicorns and fire-breathing dragons, when Duke Red strode over to us. He had a purple bruise on his nose from where the slingshot had hit him. Eden giggled and pointed. Duke Red ignored her and gave me a hard look. "So, you're the little jokester with the slingshot? You've got spirit. I like that," he said coolly. Then, he grabbed me by the sleeve and pulled me away from Eden. I saw tears in her eyes before I was dragged through the orphanage office door, and I could see her no more.

                                                                                                            -Rock

February 23rd, 2044

            I refuse to leave my room. Enmy, the maid, has tried to encourage me to have a look around Duke Red's mansion. However, I don't want to risk running into any of Duke Red's family, or even worse, Duke Red himself. I hate it here. I want to go back to the orphanage; back to Eden. My room isn't all that bad. It's on the thirtieth floor of Duke Red's mansion.  The walls are robin's egg blue, with sheer yellow curtains on a huge, panoramic window with a view of Metropolis. There is a pine desk in front of the window, it's drawers are stuffed with pencils, pens, crayons, and markers. I have one of those height-adjusting, swivel chairs that kids used to race down the halls of my school on. There's a pine bunk bed with blue comforters on it on the opposite wall, which also has a walk-in closet. Outside, the lights of cars stuck in a traffic jam far below cut through the rain like rays of sunshine in an endless fog.

                                                                                                            -Rock

February 25th, 2044

            Today, I met Duke Red's daughter, Tima. She has blonde braids and sparkling blue eyes. She was wearing a blue frilly dress, and I guess she looked kind of cute. She came into my room around noon today, and asked why I wouldn't come out. I shrugged and looked out the window. She told me that she wanted to be my friend if I would stop acting like a "hermit" and come out of my room. Maybe even go outside and get some fresh air. "Fresh air? In a city?" I said with a laugh. Then, she kicked me in the shins and told me to stop being such a jerk. She literally grabbed my ear and dragged me out of my room. When we were in the hall of the thirtieth floor, she said, "See? It's not so bad." Then, she led me outside and showed me the few blocks of the city that she knew. She wasn't allowed to go more than five blocks from the mansion, so there wasn't a whole lot to see that wasn't in other cities. The only thing that shocked me was how clean it was! No litter, no druggies, no nothing! 

Not even one decent bum to annoy. When I asked her where all the bums were, she said they were down in the lower levels and that we weren't allowed to go there. "Well, I'm going to fix this. It's not a real city without a bum!" I decided, walking into an alley and picking up a cardboard box. Then, I wrote "My Home" sloppily on the side, dropped the box on the sidewalk, and crawled inside. Tima giggled, then said, "I wouldn't do that…" I ignored her and told her to do it too, but she shook her head and stood beside the box, looking up and down the sidewalk like she was waiting for something. The bum act worked perfectly for a while, and some people walked by and stared. Suddenly, I heard a robot approaching and Tima told me to get out of the box quickly. I shook my head. Then, the robot prodded my box and after a short pause said, "Bum elimination system activated. Eliminating," Then, a flamethrower popped out of its arm and it set my box on fire!!! I yelped and jumped out. Tima and I ran down the sidewalk in terror of the robot, which was now stomping on the flaming box. "You roast your bums?!" I cried. "No, bums aren't stupid enough to live in boxes on the levels where the robots patrol," she replied.

                                                                                                -Rock

February 26th, 2044

            Tima gave me a real journal today, so I wouldn't have to write on pieces of cardboard and paper bags. The journal has a shiny blue oriental dragon on it and a fancy lock with Celtic patterns. She also returned the things that the men who worked at the shelter took from me. She hesitated to return my father's gun at first, but then told me she trusted me. Then, she announced that since she did something for me, I have to do something for her. So, now I'm stuck taking her to a restaurant tomorrow. But I'm confused. Is this a date? Oh my god I've never dated anyone before! And, is it wrong to date your adopted sister?

-Rock

K**chan: Ok, I know this is supposed to be sad, but a little light here and there isn't bad. Anyway, I did notice that there really aren't any bums on the surface level of Metropolis. Well, anyway PLEASE PLEASE review! Chapter 3, if things go according to plan, should take this fan fic back to its original darkness.


	3. Rock's First Date and The Arcade Fight

Bleeding Pages

By K**chan

Part 3: Rock's First Date and The Arcade Fight

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Metropolis and I'm not making any money off this. 

K**chan: I was shocked (and disappointed) to find out that Rock doesn't exist in Tezuka's manga. Oh well, I guess that means I can't contradict anything in the manga. Some of you have been complaining that my chapters and entries are too short. Remember, Rock is only 10 when he's writing this! When I was 10, my diary entries were usually only about two sentences long and mostly consisted of what I ate for lunch that day. Now, would you rather I wrote Rock's lunch menu? I think not. Thanks to everyone for reviewing, you're all great!

Now, enough of my senseless blabbering and onto Rock's journal…

February 27th, 2044

            I never, ever want to go on another date with Tima again! It was torture! Tima and I left Duke Red's mansion around noon today, and Tima immediately wanted to go shopping. I said that was fine with me. That was my first big mistake. Tima took me to the mall, which was several blocks away. It was a huge brick building at least 50 stories high with purple and yellow pansies in brick flower boxes out front. There was an overhang in front of its huge glass doors supported by giant gray pillars. Some teenagers leaned against the pillars smoking cigarettes and laughing at inside jokes. They jeered at us and called us "cute" as we walked passed. The store that Tima led me to was an incredibly girly store with purple and pink spotted carpeting and magenta walls. On the left were racks of jeans, dresses, and t-shirts and on the right were shelves of sickeningly cute stuffed animals. My immediate goal was to get out of there as fast as possible. Tima's goal was to buy half of the store and force me to comment on every single outfit. Tima's goal prevailed. We were in there for two hours! Afterwards, she made me carry all her bags and boxes, which were about 30 feet high all stacked up. I was constantly dropping one or two, and when I bent over to pick them up; I would end up dropping the rest. We left the mall around 2:30 and went to a Chinese food restaurant for lunch. I couldn't fit the stack of boxes through the door all at once, so half of the restaurant's staff had to rush over and help. All the men looked at me with pity, and all the women looked at Tima with envy.  The food was ok, but Tima got annoyed when I started drifting off into space because she was talking about her girl pals and how annoying some of them are. Well, at least it's over…

                                                                                                -Rock

February 28th, 2044

            I went to my first day of school in Metropolis today. Tima and I walked because it was only two blocks away. The school (Central Metropolis Elementary School) was three stories high, made of gleaming blue steel beams and reflective glass. It reminded me a lot of the prison across the street. The first hall you came into had the nurse's and the principal's office on the left and the main office on the right. Duke Red, whom Tima wants me to call Father, signed some papers and the creepy, wrinkly old woman with huge glasses at the front desk told me to go to Room 328. I followed Tima, who was in my class, up two flights of stairs to the third floor. One the way to class, we passed the ISC (In-school Suspension Center), where a fight had broken out. Someone jammed their fist through the fogged window in the door, and I heard an older woman screaming. I wanted to stop and watch, but Tima pulled me away. 

            Room 328 was a happily (Actually, a little too happily!) decorated classroom with juvenile posters everywhere. Tima took her seat at the back of the classroom, and for a moment I was confused. Where should I sit? Suddenly, a bubbly young teacher with too much enthusiasm for her own good appeared behind me! 

"HELLO! WELCOME! YOU MUST BE OUR NEW STUDENT!" she hollered in my ear excitedly, jumping up and down clapping. 

Terrified, I started to run away, but she grabbed my shoulder and spun me around to face her. She stooped to my height and looked me straight in the eye with her studying blue eyes. She wore her massive, floor length blonde hair in two high pony tails tied with silver ribbons that coordinated with her silver, collared work shirt. She was incredibly tall, at least 6' 7"!

"Oooooh! You're a cute one!" she cried. "I'm Ms. Kichigai, and I'm your new teacher!" 

I started to back away slowly. "Oh… umm… great…" I said, glancing quickly at Tima for help. 

Tima just giggled. 

Then, Ms. Kichigai spun me around to face the class. "Boys and girls, we have a new student! This is Rock, and he's an orphan from the recently conquered country of ummm… what was it called again? Oh yeah, Old Sky. He's Tima's new brother," she told them. 

"He's my boyfriend!" Tima chimed in happily.

I quickly shook my head when the other students looked at me with horror of dating my sister.

Then, ignoring Tima's outburst, Ms. Kichigai turned to me and said, "Well, Rock there's a seat over there between Miho and Natsumi," She pointed to a desk by the window, which faced the prison across the street, between to giggling girls.  

I took my seat, and the girl behind me immediately tapped my shoulder. 

"What?" I asked, turning around in my seat to face her. She had short grass-green hair and golden eyes. Her head was on her hands, and she was scarily trying to look as cute as possible. 

"Hi… I'm Miho…"she said airily. 

"Umm… hi," I replied, slightly freaked out. 

"I think you're cute…" she said in that same frightening airy voice. 

I blushed and stared at my desk. "Uh… thanks," I replied. 

The girl in front of me turned in her seat to look at me with her sharp emerald eyes. "Don't worry about her, she's always like that with new guys," she informed me flatly. "By the way, my name's Natsumi," she added. Then she turned and started to braid her messy, long blue hair. 

I could tell Miho was trying to shoot imaginary death rays at Natsumi just by the feeling of annoyance I got from behind me. 

The rest of the morning was rather uneventful, well that is until I turned to look out the window at the prison. Just then, I realized that a scary looking fat man who needed a shave was staring at me through the prison bars across the street. I shuddered and turned away, hoping he would occupy himself with something else. After a few moments, I turned again to see if he'd gone away. To my horror he was still there! And now, he was grinning sickeningly! I mouthed, "Go away," to him, but he ignored it and just grinned more widely. Just then, Ms. Kichigai noticed I wasn't paying attention. 

"And just what is so interesting, Rock?" she asked, still managing to sound annoyingly happy. 

"T-there's a man sta…" I began, but Ms. Kichigai cut me off. 

"Yes Rock, there are lots of men in that prison. Now, can we get back to fractions?"

 I groaned and tried to concentrate on adding ¼ to 1/7 but failed because I could still feel the man's dirty stare. I turned to glance at him again. Just then, he did the most awful thing! He waved! I yelped and fell out of my seat! The whole class broke into an uproar of laughter, and Ms. Kichigai spun around from her lesson to see what had caused the commotion. 

"Rock! What is the matter?" she yelled, sounding oddly happy and annoyed at the same time. 

"H-he waved at me!" I cried in distress. 

"Who did?" Ms. Kichigai asked, walking over to me. 

"T-that man!" I yelled, pointing out the window. But the man was gone!

 "What man?" Ms. Kichigai asked. 

"But… but…" I stuttered. 

"Since it's your first day, I'll let you off easy, Rock, but next time you won't be so lucky," she replied, and then skipped to the front of the classroom.

At lunch, I met a group of three boys named Yuuta, Shou, and Tatsuya. Not knowing that they were the most feared group of bullies in school, I sat at their table. I really didn't notice them until I felt their eyes on me. They gave me an odd look, then glanced at each other.  

            "So, you're Rock?" Yuuta asked.

            "Yeah. Who're you?" I asked, trying to sound half dead and uncaring, even though I was incredibly nervous. 

Yuuta alone was scary enough. He's a pale Goth with black hair gelled into huge spikes on his head and robin's egg blue eyes. Everything from his nose to his fingers was pierced. He wore all black and his shirt had a bleeding skull on it. (I've never met a Goth my age before. I thought only teens were Goths, but I guess I was wrong.) 

"I'm Yuuta, that's Shou…" he began, pointing to another boy at his side. "…and that's Tatsuya." He pointed to an older boy reading a book, seeming not to notice what was going on. "You've got a lot of guts to sit with us. You survived a bombing, didn't you?"

"Yeah. What about it?" I replied, wondering why they were questioning me so much, and whether or not I would have time to eat my meatball sandwich when they were done. 

"Well, we think that's pretty… well, amazing." Shou said in an almost disappointed tone. 

I suppose he'd been expecting me to launch into a tale describing every detail of the bombing. Then he turned to the older boy. 

"Well, what d' you think? Is he one of us or not?" he asked him.

Tatsuya simply gave Shou a thumbs-up, without even looking up from his book.

Shou grinned. "Well, you're in whether you like it or not," 

I spent the rest of lunch talking with Shou and Yuuta. Eventually, they convinced me to tell them about the bombing, and the days that followed. However, Tatsuya didn't speak at all and just continued to read his book.

Shou is a tan skateboarder with short blonde hair and curious, naive purple eyes. He's very easily amused, laughing at everything from a fly buzzing around to a light bulb in one of the huge classroom lamps burning out. He has a crush on Tima, and wants me to ask her out for him. 

Tatsuya is the best eighth grader on the baseball team. He wears his shoulder length blonde hair in a low ponytail and has eyes as cold as ice. As the oldest of the group, he's sort of our leader. He acts like a big brother to Shou and Yuuta, whom I've heard come from broken and abusive homes. Tatsuya doesn't talk much; he just sits there coolly, surveying the scene with his piercing eyes, seeming to be barely listening to any conversation that might be going on. However, when he does speak, it's obvious that he's heard every word. After school, he gave me a pair of dark sunglasses because he told me my eyes make me look too innocent. I thought this was odd, because he barely seemed to even notice me at lunch.

I walked home with Tima after school let out at 2:45. She isn't thrilled that I'm part of Tatsuya's group, but then she told me that I sort of belong there. 

I asked her why and she replied, "Well, Yuuta, Shou, and Tatsuya are the most handsome guys in school and you're pretty handsome yourself," 

I blushed and wanted to ask her if we should really be dating if we're brother and sister but decided against it. I really only like her in a brother –sister sort of way, but I'm not sure how to break it to her.

                                                                        -Rock

March 6th, 2044

            Today was Saturday, so Tima and I didn't have school. I met up with Shou and Yuuta around noon outside Duke Red's mansion. Tatsuya wasn't there because he was grounded for chasing Yuuta's father with a baseball bat when he'd seen him hit Yuuta. Shou had brought two extra skateboards besides his own for Yuuta and me. We were just about to ride off when suddenly, Tima burst out of the glass door. She ran over to me and yelled at me for leaving without inviting her. So, we ended up taking her with us. She rode on the back of my skateboard until we got to the edge of her "boundaries". There, she hopped off and looked at me questioningly.

            "Rock, you know we're not allowed any further into the city…" she reminded me.

            "Aww… little baby girl afraid of the city?" Yuuta teased her.

            "Lay off, if she's scared she doesn't have to go," Shou said to Yuuta sternly.

            "I'm not scared!" Tima cried and hopped back on the skateboard. 

            I sighed because I'd been hoping to shake her, but, oh well. We road on, past stores and factories, apartments and offices. Suddenly, the sound of screaming and panic rang through the streets. 

            "Let's check it out!" Shou yelled excitedly.

            I could tell Tima was frightened, and I knew going toward the screaming was foolish, but I followed Shou and Yuuta anyway. We turned a corner to see a crowd of people stampeding down the street in terror.

            "What's going on?" I yelled to a passerby.

            "A robot has malfunctioned! Run!" the frightened man yelled, then dashed off down the street as fast as his legs would carry him.

            Yuuta and Shou were already pushing through the crowd to get a better look. I followed them reluctantly. When we emerged from the crowd, we beheld a 20-stories tall construction robot swinging a huge steel beam around causing mass destruction. It plunged the beam into the side of an apartment building and tore off the outer wall. People inside the building screamed and ran down the stairs to get out. The robot was coming straight at us, with no signs of stopping! Tima screamed and buried her face in my back in terror.

            "Rock! Come on! Let's go back now!" she sobbed in fright.

            But Yuuta, Shou, and I were all frozen to the spot in sheer terror. The robot stomped ever nearer, swinging its steel beam like a giant vandal with a baseball bat. Just as it would have crushed us, I felt someone knock us out of the way. Tima and I skidded onto the sidewalk along with Yuuta and Shou. We looked up to see the robot passing by and Tatsuya standing over us panting. 

            "Damn you all! You could have been killed!" he yelled angrily, his eyes flashing. 

            Then he lectured us about being foolish and running purposely into danger, looking for trouble. He scolded each of us in turn. I expected to get off easily, because I was new to the group, and Tatsuya seemed to take less notice of me. I was wrong. Only when he turned to me did he notice that Tima was with us. This just caused him to get even angrier.       

"Not only do you pull yourselves into such a mess, but an innocent girl, too! My God, do you have even a speck of brains?!" he yelled. He ranted for about 15 minutes before he finally cooled his head and sat down to light a cigarette.

            Finally, I asked him why he wasn't grounded. He just grinned mischievously and explained that he'd climbed out the window of his apartment onto the fire escape and snuck out. Then, he'd come looking for us and found us just in time.

                                                                                    -Rock

March 7th, 2044

            Duke Red was tied up in boring meetings all day that had to do with the robot disaster yesterday, so Tima and I didn't see him much. It was just as well, because around one o'clock I met up with Yuuta and Shou at an arcade. Tima came along again, not at all fazed by our foolish behavior yesterday. Tatsuya was in even more trouble than before because he'd snuck out, so he wasn't there. Inside the arcade it was very smoky, and there were shifty looking people sitting in the corners smoking who-knows-what. We didn't play any games because none of us, except for Tima, had any money and Tima wasn't going to loan us any of hers. So we just sat around and bothered a couple of old ladies who were playing slot machines. 

            Things were great for about an hour, until Miho and a few of her friends arrived. Tima, Shou, and I didn't notice them at first, but Yuuta did and pulled us into one of those instant photo machines. Confused, we asked what was the matter. 

            "It's them!" Yuuta hissed, peering out of the machine.

            "Who?" I asked, wondering who could spook him so badly.

            "Miho and her friends!" he replied.

            "So? What're they going to do to us?" I asked.

            Shou seemed nervous now, too. "They're tough as hell! Miho might not look like much, but she's strong, and quite the martial artist. She hates Yuuta and me, and I don't think she likes Tima very much either. Plus, if she has any of her family with her, we're as good as dead," he explained.

            "She's got her brothers and that stupid best friend of her's with her," Yuuta added.

            "So we're just going to sit in here all day?" Tima groaned.

            I peeked out of the machine and saw Miho dressed incredibly provocatively. Beside her was a taller girl with curly purple hair and gray eyes wearing a mini skirt. They were leaning over a pinball machine, and obviously hadn't seen us. Behind them were three boys who had green hair and golden eyes the same shade as Miho's. The biggest one looked to be about six feet tall, with bulging muscles and short, spiky hair. A slightly shorter, but no less intimidating boy stood next to him, smoking a joint and running his fingers through his greasy, long hair. The third was leaning against a crane machine looking bored and… painting his nails?! I shuddered and shrunk back into the machine. 

            "Well, should we try to sneak out?" I asked the others.

            "I guess. We really don't have any other choice," Shou replied, fidgeting with something in his pocket. 

            The four of us crept out of the machine and were almost out the nearest door when I heard a shrill, airy voice cry, "Oh Rock! Is that you?" Miho bounded over to me happily. "Hi cutie! What're you doing here?" she asked, not noticing Yuuta, Shou, and Tima behind me.

            "Umm… nothing really, I was just about to leave actually…" I replied shakily, moving towards the door.

            "Aww… don't leave yet! Come hang out with us!" she pleaded.

            By now her friend and brothers had gathered around. The one who d' been painting his nails leaned forward towards me, and grabbed my face, digging his wet, long nails into my cheek. 

"You wouldn't break my little sister's heart, now would you?" he drauled sickeningly. The paint from his nails smeared on my cheek as he drew away, eyeing me threateningly from behind his long, straight greasy hair. 

There wasn't really much I could do but nod. 

"Great!" Miho cried, clasping her hands together in delight. "This is Leiko," She pointed to her girl friend, who was grinning at Yuuta with a devilish look in her eye. "And these are my brothers, Jokichi…" she pointed to the tallest one. "…Isao…" she nodded to the one who'd been smoking a joint. "…and Katsu…" she pointed to the one with the painted nails. 

Yuuta, Shou, Tima, and I followed them to the juice bar at the back of the arcade. We were about to sit down when Leiko stopped us. 

"Hold on. You and the Goth boy can stay, but the skateboarder and the rich girl have to go," she commanded.

"No, either all of us stay or no one does. We're not dumb enough to be alone with you freaks," Yuuta objected.

"If you want to keep your nice little pierced nose, you should shut your mouth," Jokichi, the tallest brother growled, making a fist and shaking it at Yuuta. 

"I ain't shutin' anything by your orders!" Yuuta yelled, reaching for something in his back pocket. 

"Watch your tongue little boy!" Isao, the joint-smoker, scolded him starting to get up. 

Yuuta growled. "I'm not little, you bastard. If you want a fight, come and get it!" he cried, brandishing a Swiss Army knife from his back pocket.

I glanced behind me and noticed Shou also had a knife. 

"Get your knife out quick, Rock!" Shou yelled, then saw my confused look.

What knife? I never knew they expected me to carry a weapon. I knew I had to act fast, so I snatched a beer bottle from the bar and broke it against the wood finish. The edges of the broken bottle could be just as harmful as any knife. Suddenly, Tima rushed into the middle of the impending fight.

"Please, stop everyone! There's no need to fight!" she cried. Then she turned to the other boys and me. "Come on guys, let's go,"

We started to leave but Miho would have nothing of it. "Awww look… Little prissy rich girl is playing the pacifist! Don't want your little boyfriends to get hurt? Go ahead, take the scum, but Rock is mine!"

"Rock doesn't belong to anyone, not even to me, his girlfriend, and none of these boys are scum! They're my friends! Now leave us alone!" Tima countered angrily. 

"Do you seriously think we'll leave you alone at your command, Tima Red? You stuck- up little bitch! I bet Rock never even agreed to be your boyfriend! I bet you consider him just another plaything that your billionaire father has bought for you! You are the most spoiled slut I…" but Miho was cut short when Tima gave her a swift slap on the face. 

This enraged her brothers, who pounced on us like a cats onto stunned mice. The one with the painted nails, Katsu, knocked me down with a punch to the chest, then jumped on me, his switchblade in his right hand. I shoved the broken end of the bottle in his face, creating a neat ring of cuts on his cheek. He winced and growled at me, stabbing my shoulder. I screamed and tried to cut him with the bottle again, but he had me pinned. He slashed my face, my arms, everything he could get to. However, he spared my throat, and I'm thankful for that. He probably could have killed me right then and there, if he'd had a mind to. I could hear my friends yelling and doing their best to fight back. I wished Tatsuya would show up and save us again, but I doubt even he would've been able to fight all three of her brothers off. Then, I heard Tima screaming and crying and both Miho and her best friend's cruel voices laughing. I tried to free myself so I could go help Tima, but Katsu was just too strong.

Suddenly, I heard gunshots and men running and shouting. The cops had arrived. Katsu released me, and I scrambled to my feet. The cops surrounded us and hand cuffed the brothers. A short, fat cop came over and questioned us while another man questioned Miho and her friend. Eventually, the cops let us go because we were so young and there wasn't really much else they could do. An ambulance had come, but my friends and I refused to go to the hospital. None of us were hurt very badly, just a bit bruised and slashed. Tima was barely hurt, just frightened, and her injuries only amounted to a few bruises. Yuuta was probably the worst hurt, a few of his piercings had been torn out, and Shou and I thought he, if any of us, should go to the hospital. But he refused. Shou had been scarcely hurt because he'd whacked his attacker, the tallest brother, with a chair early on in the fight, stunning him and letting Shou get the upper hand. Tima seemed concerned about all my cuts, but I shrugged them off, not wanting to look weak in front of my friends. 

Miho and her friend stalked over to us, seeming less bold than before because now we outnumbered them. However, we still treated them with caution. They were in a lot better shape than we were.

"You better not show your face around school tomorrow," Miho warned Tima, shaking her fist in Tima's face. "You won't be so lucky next time we fight. I'll kill you! I'll kill you, I swear!" Then, the two brats left the arcade in a huff. 

I could tell that Tima was frightened by their threat, and, to tell the truth, I'm a little nervous about Tima going to school tomorrow.

When we arrived back at Duke Red's mansion, it was well after eight o'clock and our curfew was six. Duke Red was waiting at the door looking anxious. He gasped when he saw the condition we were in. He stooped down to our level, hugging us and trying to hold back tears. 

"What happened to you? What happened?" he repeated over and over again. 

I looked at Tima and she looked at me. We'd broken his rules by leaving the five-block radius around the mansion. And look what we'd gotten for it! Oh, we in a lot of trouble. Well, all there was to do was tell the truth. Tima told Duke Red what had happened, right down to the last terrifying detail. Duke Red looked shocked and angry at the same time. All he could think of to do was to send us to our rooms. As I ascended the stairs I looked back to see him sit down in a lounge chair and put his head in his hands in exasperation.

The only thing Tima didn't tell Duke Red about was Miho's parting threat. I wonder if Miho really will attack Tima. Well, if she does, she'll have me to contend with!

                                                                                    -Rock

Author's Note: Did you notice that I'm working on my description? ^_^ I tried to make this chapter a little longer and more detailed. So, did I succeed? Was there too much, too little, or just enough detail? Please let me know! I know, I know, the fic isn't quite as dark as I promised yet, but have patience! It's getting there! Anyway, reviews are always appreciated! Part 4 up soon!


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